After our nearly 5 hour westbound flight in the B767, and my body still on Toronto time of 7am, I was now wide awake and wanting to stretch my legs after sitting at the controls for a long time. After checking in and depositing my bags in my Marriott room, I decided to stroll through the now almost-deserted Vancouver suburb streets of Richmond even though the local time was only 4am. The red eye flight was uneventful, but I wanted to move around a bit and get my circulation back and my blood flowing before getting into the hotel's awesome breakfast.
I strolled past a hundred Chinese noodle houses, various other oriental businesses and scores of apartment buildings that dot the now forever-changed Richmond landscape. Just over from the middle-arm of the mighty Fraser River as it empties into the Strait of Georgia, the streets were still dark and the temperature was cool. But I was dressed for this winter walk and quite enjoyed it. I always enjoy the West Coast. I enjoy praying and worship when I'm walking or driving alone and this seemed like an opportunity to mix my passions. I'd lived here in Vancouver and for a while in Victoria for years in the 80's and never quite got the west out of my blood. The sea, sky and mountains blend into their beautiful western natural splendor, and it always makes me feel good to be alive out here. As I'd left home some hours ago, my son had handed me a slip of paper with a phone number of someone who'd called while I'd been sleeping and wanted to speak with me on the phone. As I started my stroll, it was now 8am back home and so I dialed the number to return the phone call. Early in the conversation, I decided that it was probably a marketing call setup and after a few "short, brisk words" I said goodbye.
I constantly (as I'm sure you do as well) get the telemarketing calls during the day at home. I hate to break it to you, but I find it quite unproductive, distracting, not to mention very, very annoying being so consistently bombarded with these phone calls. Knowing that their phone call is now illegal under Canadian legislation makes it even more annoying as I'm sure it's hard to police and bring a conviction against these pesky guys. It's unproductive because there is a zero-chance I will buy something from this person; distracting because it breaks into my time when I'm concentrating on something else in my day-to-day agenda that has to be done. There is one particular guy who daily calls and markets his "Ducks Cleaning Service", or something like that in an squeaky barely-English but heavily accented-voice.
As I continue to walk I got thinking of how my demeanor seemingly instantly changes when I am confronted with telemarketers and the like. How do I reconcile my wanting to love and worship the Lord with the sudden hostility I feel when confronted with "people like that", trying to make a buck off of robbing me of my time? I may live and die before I find out the answer to that personal question. As I walked along I pondered that. My thoughts turned back to worship and prayer. Perhaps I reasoned, I need to spend more time this year in prayer. I need to be more like Jesus. While it's true he never had to deal with the telemarketers, Jesus always seemed to only show love and was generous with his time for people, whereas I get impatient and less-than-gentle over a phone call? As it was still the first week in January, that will be a great resolution and theme for 2017 ~ Make Me More Like You Jesus! So I sang that little chorus for a few bars to let it's meaning set itself into my spirit.
Make Me More Like You
Jesus, Make Me More Like You
Give Me A Heart That's filled with Love
And Make Me More Like You
In Galatians 5, Paul counsels us to get in step with the Spirit.
19Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21envy,d drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who doe such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. ~ Galatians 5
~ Happy New Year from all of us!
May We Be MORE Like Jesus in 2017 (St Mark)
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